Flavor Profile
Jodhpur Gin in the Bottle.
Jodhpur gin is an interesting specimen. It is made in the UK, most likely at Langley according to my friend David. Secondly, the inspiration for the gin was the city in India. And finally, it’s a gin made for the Spanish market [at least if the entirely in Spanish twitter, facebook and the Gin Tonica focused instagram site is any indication].
Frankly, when I hear a gin is inspired by a city in India, I begin to think literally: cardamom, coriander, exotic pungent spices. But what often is forgotten in these literal recollections is that classic London Dry gin was often enjoyed in India. So rather than India being an inspiration for modern contemporary style gins, India conversely can be used as an inspiration for classic traditional styles. Just if you take that inspiration a different way….
Tasting Notes
Jodhpur Gin has a nice nose, gentle juniper and a touch of citrus. Warm, freshly ground coriander on the edges too. Nice and classic forward. Very inviting.
The taste is well rounded. A good deal of juniper on the front of Jodhpur Gin, smooth but a bit hot. It fades a bit and the spices on the tail are classically gin styled to be sure: coriander, cassia and a touch of bitter on the finish. Tangy but subtle lemon on the edges of the long finish, clean and dry with a lasting bitterness. Truly classic in profile, and frankly quite drinkable.
Cocktails
It has a nice classic profile, so I expect this to work nicely in a good deal of cocktails.
Jodhpur Gin + 1724 Tonic = Quite nice. The nice juniper and citrus notes come out, the spices on the tail a tad muted. But overall, this makes for a nice gin and tonic. I think that Jodhpur Gin could be substituted for almost any classic style gin, and I think it would probably take an astute drinker to know the difference. Warm on the finish, the bitterness even seems toned down in this drink in two ways: the finish of the tonic and the finish of the gin. A case of a tonic I think bringing out the best in a gin.
Jodhpur Gin + Martini and Rossi Sweet Vermouth + Campari = Good, but not too remarkable. You get a bit of the juniper in here, but not a whole lot of punch. Would like to see a bit more come out here. It’s very average for a Negroni.
Jodhupur + Martini and Rossi Dry Vermouth = Good with a nice pinch of juniper, a bit of pine. The fact that Jodhpur gin is quite smooth and easy to drink comes across well here. Emphasis on the baking spices on the finish, getting more than a touch of cassia and ginger here. Nice and drinkable, a very classic Martini.
Given how it works in these drinks, it seems to pull off most drinks quite well, but without remarkable results. It makes a nice classic aviation, and an Alaska Cocktail, it pairs nicely with chartreuse. But overall, although I think it’s a good classic gin, I find myself looking for that point of view, something that makes it stand out. Sure there’s a lot of good juniper forward classic gins out there, but the ones that stand out to me do something. They push one ingredient in a new way. They add a quality that’s a bit unexpected. They push the juniper and bring out something new. There’s a lot of depth to a good classic styled gin, but I find myself saying about Jodhpur, “sure it’s good,” but I’d have a hard time saying why someone should buy this over anything else, other than “if the price is right.”
Overall, Jodhpur Gin
What Jodhpur Gin does best is make a good classic styled gin at a fair price. But where it disappoints is its taken a country and city with such a rich and interesting history, and seemingly taken no inspiration from it other than the name. I don’t need to taste cardamom form beginning to end, but if you want to invoke India, I think there’s a lot of ways you can do that. And I think if it had done that, it might have really made a classic gin which separated itself from the pack.
International Gin Exchange 2013
Thanks to David over at Summer Fruit Cup for helping make this tasting possible. Because the bottles are small sample bottles, this review is not as thorough as my normal gin reviews. There’s only enough for some tasting neat and no more than one normal-sized cocktail. Although I do my best to give as full of a review as possible, complete with ratings, the tasting is not as complete as I would normally want to do. If a bottle enters into my possession, I will update this review with more tasting notes, and I reserve the right to update my rating accordingly.